Chanting Hare Krishna VS Reading Vedanta – sutra

“My dear sir, My spiritual master considered Me a great fool,” Lord Caitanya replied. “Therefore he has more or less punished me by saying that because I am such a fool I have no capacity to study Vedānta. So in turn he gave me the chanting of Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. My spiritual master told me, ‘Just go on chanting this Hare Krishna mantra: it will make You all-perfect.’ ” Actually Lord Caitanya was neither foolish nor ignorant of the principles of Vedānta. His purpose was to demonstrate to modern society that fools who have no history of penance and austerity should not try to study Vedānta just for some recreational purpose. (Pg no. 197 – Last Para) As long as one is within the limited jurisdiction of fruitive activities or is involved in mental speculation, he may perhaps be eligible to study or teach the theoretical knowledge of Vedānta-sūtra, but he cannot understand the supreme, eternal, transcendental (completely liberated) vibration of Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. One who has achieved perfection in chanting the transcendental Hare Krishna vibration does not have to separately learn the philosophy of Vedānta-sūtra. According to the teachings of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the bona ﬁde spiritual master, those who do not understand the transcendental vibration as being nondifferent from the Supreme and who try to become Māyāvādī philosophers or experts in Vedānta-sūtra are all fools. Studying Vedānta-sūtra by one’s own efforts (the ascending process of knowledge) is another sign of foolishness. He who has attained a taste for chanting the transcendental vibration, however, actually attains the conclusion of Vedānta. In this connection, there are two verses in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam which are very instructive. The purport of the ﬁrst is that even if a low-caste person is engaged in chanting the transcendental vibration, it is to be understood that he has performed all types of renunciation, austerities and sacriﬁce and has studied all the Brahma-sūtras. Thus one can be able to chant Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. The purport of the second verse is that one who chants the two syllables Ha-ri must be considered to have studied all the Vedas: the Ṛg Veda, Atharva Veda, Yajur Veda and Sāma Veda. (Pg no. 200 – 1st Para)

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